Lounge chair



E. E. WOLLER July 1, 1947.

LOUNGE CHAIR Filed Sept. 13, 1!.944

s Sheets-Shet 1 fizveri Ida/card ZIMOZZET'. I fiwwm E. E. WOLLER LOUNGE CHAIR Filed Sept. 13, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. E. WOLLER July 1, 1947.

LOUNGE CHAIR Filed Sept. 15, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [722167857- faw czrdi'. ZflaZZer Patented July 1, 1947 Edward.

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an. f D lawar Applicationseptember 13, 1944, Serial No, 553,81)?

3 C a ms- 557 .1

invention relates to improvements in chairs, and moreparticularly to an improved lounge. chair construction.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a lounge chair (that is, a chair which has an adjustable back, seat and leg rest), which may be easily and quickly adjusted to various positions, and easily but effectively locked in the selected position of adjustment.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a lounge chair construction which will be strong and durable and which will be quite rigid in any of its selected positions; to provide such a loungechair which will be of neat and attrace, tive appearance; and, in general, it is the object of the invention to provide an improved chair of the character indicated.

Other-objects and advantages of. the invention will be understood by reference. to the followings'peciiication and accompanying drawings (three sheets) wherein there is illustrated a loung chair embodying a selected form of the invention.

In the drawings:

1 is a sideelevation;

Fig. 2- is a fragmentary sid elevation corresponding-toe. portionofFig. l, but showing' the parts in a changed position;

' 3 is a-plan; section on theline 3-3 of Fig. 2'; and

i 4 is line E-J-of 2.

The improved; lounge chair herein disclosed comprises a pair of tubular- Inetal side frames l--I whiohmay be rigidlyinterconnected: in predetermined-s-paced relation by transverse front and reartubularconnectors} and-3 respectively. The

supporting frame structure comprising the side ll andtransverse connectors 2- and 3;

ra s may be fer med into an integral or rigid structure by welding or otherwise" uniting the said ar 1 l gliseat Q" embodies a pair of tubular sidemembers 5 5'- rigidly interconnected by transversely extending front and rear rods or the like, respec tively indicated at l and 8, said side members and tra er se rods being welded or otherwise fixegll-y nterconnected; Thetransverse rods land 8 havetheir center portions dropped'downwardly from the plane of-the side mernber s 5 se as to avoid any-interference with cushion support- 1% spring' fabricinot shown). whichlis stretched betweentheside members 5-5 accordance ithseni qn P.'?'9- I The ear portion oi the seat 4 is pivotally a verticalsection approximately-on thee I. so thatthe eat-w mo nt as i dicate n-the rs ecthli adjacent side frames. l eLthcfpivot 9 b. ng loten a shor d ame i w d vsea. he. eat,

extremities of the respective side r'nembers 5. The,

i ot ay be f e-ce n. rt si i a? the "end po t ons of h -s at aam r'wdfl as howh Y The; ex fiiQni. of t brac d. g

in Fig. 3. H

may, if desired; be-madeirigid with th ll'suppo t ns. me inembe a b ri e na enumr end f: th b a e. od to the outer llfnor on ofthe ll i ot r ack. n.

h e d ortion Qt Seaman bra h oweve the a ranecmen mey e e e sed. the.

brace rod B-being weld he. eat desi. thcrear iv c n ept tion of the U-shaped frame. 1 g

Near their pivot-al v m u ted ends. the.

l2,may also beri idlr in erc nnected by of a rearwardly a ched ross member 3v. he

said member beingarched' ea wardl to revent interference with rearwa d elding-Qt ihs ion-supp rtin spri fabric t e chedbetw fin the sides of the back rest frame.

At each side of the chair, there is; an arm rest member I4, the rear end oi which'is pive.

otally connected, as shown at Hi, to a suitable lug, such as H, extending forwardly from thQad-L- jacent side member l2 'of the back rest. The

' front end of said armldris bent downwardly; as

shown at Land is pivotally connected; as shown at [9, to the upper end of the respectively. adja:

cent side member 20 ofa foot rest frame. Th I foot rest frame member may also be'in the form. of a'U-shaped frame, the lower ends of the said members 20 being interconnected by a transverse rod or tube portionwhich is integral'with the side members. Near the upper end of each of the sidemembers 2? of the" foot rest frame, there is provided a'rearwardly extending lug, such as shown at 2], to which the front end of each of the side members 5 is pivoted. as shown at 22. The for! ward portions of the arm rests M are supported by means, suchas s'truts 23-"23; which are piv- 7 otally mounted, as shown at 24, on a bracing member 25, which connects the front leg portion: 26 of the side frarne'to the rear leg portion 2;!

thereof Theconnecting nieinbers 25 may be-welded ori s 1. ai re i nc i?! he se s de :4. a d retat ble in he flam TO he r rward rextending-- nd la inae-19:9?

The side members 13. 5:

otherwise rigidly united to the respective front and rear legs. The struts 23 thus serve to horizontally movably support the arm rests I4. and through the forward portions of the arm rest and upper portions of the foot frame, the front of the seat is also movably supported.

It will be observed that by exerting pressure on the back rest, it may be rocked rearwardly about the pivot relative to the seat 4, the arm rest I4 then serving as a link which transmits rocking movement to the foot rest structure, so as to cause the same to swing upwardly and forwardly to a more or less horizontal position. (See Fig. 1.) Any suitable cushion, represented by the dotted line 28, may be provided over the back, rest seat and leg rest.

For locking the chair in selected position of adjustment, the links or pivoted. struts 23 are extended downwardly below the pivots 24 toprovide arm portions 29. To said arm portions, there are secured brackets 30, as by means of screws 3|, the lower ends of said brackets being provided with enlarged bosses 32, which are provided respectively with right and left-hand internal threading 33 and 34 respectively. The locking rod .35 is provided with enlarged right andlefthand externally screw-threaded parts 36 and 31 respectively, which threadedly engage the threaded portions of the bosses 32--32, and said rod 35 has endportions, such as shown at 38 and 39, which extend beyond the threaded enlargements. The end'portion 38 extends through a suitable opening in the lower end portion of the adiacent link extension 29, freely through a slot 40 in a link 4|, the front end of which is pivoted, as shown at 42, to the adjacent front leg 26, and into the lower end of a handle'member 43, which is fixedly secured to said shaft end as by Welding or otherwise '4 V r Suitable friction washers 44-44 are provided around the shaft end 38 intermediate the adjacent sides of the link 4|, the arm 29, and the locking lever 43.

The endportion 39 of the rod 35 extends freely through an opening provided in the lower end of the extension 29, through the slot 49 of the link 4| at the other side of the chair, and the extreme outer end portion of the rod is screw-threaded, as indicated at 45. Suitable friction washers 44 are disposed on the rod-end 39 on opposite sides of the link 4|, and a nut 46 and lock nut 4! are provided on the screw-threaded portion 45.

It will be seen that turning of the rod 35 will effect movement of the lower end extensions 29 of the links 23 outwardly from each other, or towards each other, in accordance with the direction in which the shaft 35 is rotated. The nut 46 is first adjusted and locked by the lock nut 47 in proper relationship to the lower end of the lever 43, which is welded or otherwise fixed on the end 38 of the shaft. There is thus provided a predetermined space between the inner faces of the hand lever 43 and the nut 45 between which the lower arm extensions 29 of the struts 23 may be moved outwardly. Hence, when the shaft 35 is turned by meanslof the hand lever 43 to effect spreading of the lower arm portions 29, they will befrictionally clamped against the lower end of the hand lever 43 and the stop nut 46, the rear end portions of the links 4| being also incidentally Since the links 4|, are anchored by their irdiit with reference to the respece V pivots 42 against horizontal movement, clamping of the arms 29 to said links 4| serves effectively to prevent any rocking movement of the struts 23 on their pivots 24, and thereby, to lock the adjustable back rest seat and leg support in any selected position of adjustment. The slot 46 serves, of course, to permit the respective shaft end portions 33 and 39 to move to and fro, as an incident to rocking of the struts 23 when the structure is adjusted.

The chair structure is preferably, but not necessarily, made principally of tubular metal. Such tubular construction provides a strong and durable chair of attractive appearance without excessive weight, The locking arrangemen is simple and can be easily actuated by a person occupying the chair, so that locking of the chair in a selected position may be conveniently effected when the desired position of the chair has been attained.

Many of the details of construction shown in the drawings may be substantially modified. In this instance, the pivot mounting 24 for the struts 23 is formed (as best shown in Fig. 4) by means of a stud 48, the outer portion of which is passed through a suitable hole provided in the frame member 25, the extreme outer end of the stud being locked to the frame member 2 5'by means of a reduced diameter extension 49 passed through a correspondingl sized hole in the frame member, and riveted over as illustrated. The inner ends of the respective studs 48 have reduced diameter portions 59 which pivotally receive the struts 23, shoulders 5| being formed on the studs to prevent lateral outward movement of the respective links. Suitable screws, indicated at 52, threaded into the inner end of each of the studs 48, serve to prevent inward displacement of the links from their respective supporting studs.

In the arrangement shown, the rearward movement of the handle lever 43 is limited by the pivot stud 48, and the handle lever is formed with a rearwardly bent upper portion to more conveniently locate the handle 53. The handle 53 may, of course, be located at any desired front torear position. In the rear position of the locking handle lever 43, the chair is unlocked so that it may be adjusted to any desired position. By pushing the handle forwardly, the locking shaft 35 is rotated in such a direction as to effect spreading of the lower ends of the arm 29 to lock the chair. It has been found that adequate locking may be practicably effected with rotation of the shaft 35 to an extent of even less than of a turn, this depending, however, upon the pitch of the right and left-hand threads 36 and 31 employed, and the adjustment effected by the setting of the nut 46 and lock nut 41. The setting of the nut 46 and lock nut 41 relative to the lower end of the handle lever 43 determines or limits the extent to which the arm portions 29 may be moved laterally outwardly in the operation of locking the chair in any selected position of adjustment. These details may, of course, be widely' varied, as may other details of the structure. I claim:

1. In a lounge chair of the character indicated,

per end of the foot rest and to the back rest,

means pivotally connecting the rear portion of th seat to the respective side frames, struts respectively extending between said arm rests and portions of said side frame below said armvrests, said struts being pivotally connected to said arm rests and side frame portions, and said back rest, seat, foot rest and arm rests being pivotally adjustable to each other, means on each side of the chair for locking certain of said relatively adjustable parts in selected position of adjustment, means interconnecting said locking means for simultaneous locking and unlocking movements respectively, and means at one side of the chair connected to said inter-locking means and adapted for manual operation by an occupant of the chair for operating said locking means.

2. In a lounge chair of the character indicated, rigidly interconnected side frames, a back rest, a seat, and a foot rest, said back rest and foot rest being hingedly connected to the rear and front ends respectively of the seat, arm rests having front and rear ends pivotally connected respectively to the upper end of the foot rest and to the back rest, means pivotally connecting the rear portion of the seat to the respective side frames, struts respectively extending between said arm rests and portions of said side frames below said arm rests, said struts being pivotally connected to said arm rest and side frame portions and having arm portions depending from their pivotal connections to said side frames, links pivoted at their front ends to the respective side frames and having pin and slot connections at their rear ends to the lower ends of the respective arm portions of said struts for permitting limited relative movement between said arm portions and said links, thereby to permit limited rocking movement of said struts on their pivotal connections with said side frames, and means for looking said arm portions in selected position of adjustment relative to said links, to thereby lock the back rest, seat, and foot rest in selected position of adjustment.

3. In lounge chair of the character indicated, rigidly interconnected side frames, a back rest, a seat, and a foot rest, said back rest and foot rest being hingedly connected to the rear and front ends respectively of the seat, arm rests having front and rear ends pivotally connected respectively to the upper end of the foot rest and to the back rest, means pivotally connecting the rear portion of the seat to the respective side frames, struts respectively extending between said arm rests and portions of said side frames below said arm rests and having arm portions depending from their pivotal connections to said side frames, links pivoted at their front ends to the respective side frames and having pin and slot connections at their rear ends to the lower ends of the respective arm portions of said struts for permitting limited relative movement between said arm portions and said links, thereby to permit limited rocking movement of said struts on their pivotal connections with said side frames, means for locking said arm portions in selected position of adjustment relative to said links, to thereby lock the back rest, seat, and foot rest in selected position of adjustment, said locking means comprising a rod rotatably supported in the lower end portions of said arm portions, right and left-hand screw-threaded connections between the opposite end portions of said rod and the respective arm portions of said struts, means for rotating said rod so as to thereby effect lateral movement of said arm portions relative to said rod, and means for limiting the extent of such lateral movement which may be imparted by rotating said rod,

EDWARD WOLLER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENT Name Date Lorenz July 18, 1944 Luckhardt Mar. 11, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France 1939 Number Number 

